Laser Welding

Laser welding is one of the most effective welding processes:

• efficiency approximately 25%;
• no consumable items or materials;
• low operational costs;
• minimum dimensions;
• total operation time of minimum 100 000 h.

Fibre laser welding increases welding speed by approximately 50% for steels and up to 80% for aluminium alloys. Combined laser-arch welding ensures welding of thin metals at high speed of up to 1 m/s.

Depending on laser power with use of one welding tip it is possible to weld metals of different thickness and hardness, plane, curvilinear and multilayer structures without deformation, structures like «tube-tube plate» from stainless steels, titanium alloys and combinations of heterogeneous materials. Laser welding method ensures butt-welding of stainless steels and copper with high-strength seam. At the same time the weld seam is rather strong and plastic and the possibility of cold crack and autocrack formation is minimum.

The laser welding is effective not only in mass production, but also in manufacture of unique items. Characteristics of items most appropriate for laser welding:

• shell content cannot be exposed to heating;
• permissible thermal deformations after welding are very small or within close tolerance;
• powerful magnets in structure;
• heterogeneous metals to be welded;
• thin-walled element to be welded to massive one;
• welding inside (in the recess) the assembly.